¿A dónde irán los muertos?

Memorial for Rubén

Rubén Salazar was the first journalist from main-stream media to report on the Chicano community. His photograph sits among mementos that make up a an altar tribute to his life. He was killed by shot in the head with a tear gas canister by a deputy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He was shot while he sat at the Silver Dollar Bar in East L.A., taking a break from covering the Chicano Moratorium, a protest against the disproportionate amount of Chicanos being drafted into the war.

The last battle between Californios and U.S. Marines during the American Invasion of 1846 was fought at La Mesa on January 9, 1847 in what is today the City of Vernon in L.A. County. Three hundred Californios charged at the Marines with lances repeatedly, riding their horses to exhaustion. The Californios would retreat to Pasadena and the Treaty of Cahuenga would cease hostilities until the annexation of the Southwest into the territory of the United States. This phantom still holds the line, riding tortured at La Mesa in that moment where the homeland would forever change despite the futile resistance.

Buried beneath cities lie histories that are yet to be discovered and some that are hidden intentionally. Each time the ground is broken, a new story is revealed and confronts us. It asks us to reconsider the past and the narratives that we have built around every time.

Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition that was first brought to Los Angeles in the 70s by the non-profit Self Help Graphics & Art. It honors the dead and it is a mix of Indigenous and European beliefs. This print combines two photographs of Día de los muertos celebrations at SHG&A, one from the 70's and another from 2000's. This ritual celebration has gone through transformations since it has been brought from Mexico and into the Chicano community but it remains rooted in the tradition of communing with dead ancestors and celebrating their lives.